The Spread of a Virus: A Covid Tale

Health communication is not a new concept. Health communication is defined by the CDC and the National Cancer Institute as "the study and implementation of communication strategies to inform and influence individual actions that improve health." The field of health communication can be thought of as a link between experts and the general public, and it is pretty practical. Health communication is a subset of communication that overlaps with other disciplines. Government and professional working groups, for example, have a strong influence on ensuring that practitioners in the field are working toward similar goals, whether they are statewide, national, or international. Communication about health and safety issues may be natural ability. Mammals communicate with their progeny and one another about which foods are acceptable to eat and which locations should not be entered. Ancient humans taught each other how to cook safely, repair wounds, and detect ailments. All types of health-related communication.

How are we messing with the grand design?

As noble as the concept of health communication is, I often think of it as a game of telephone. By the time health-related information reaches the public, it has been filtered through so many channels that it is nearly impossible for the message to be consistent. This is worsened by the fact that most of those channels have their motives. Think about our previous president, Donald Trump. Like any other bully, Donald Trump appealed to the fear and ignorance of people to rule. Appealing to fear attempts to affect people's behavior by instilling fear in those who hear a frightening message. Fear is a natural human emotion. Clinging to parents, avoiding situations, or being exceedingly shy are all symptoms of anxiety. According to research, fear and anxiety adversely affect our decision-making ability. Studies have shown that emotion-based decision-making influences our perception of safety. If we are crippled in fear, how can we make informed decisions? An appeal to ignorance is a logical fallacy in which someone makes a case for or against something based on the lack of opposing evidence. To put it another way, it's predicated on the erroneous notion that a lack of evidence constitutes proof. Furthermore, the appeal to ignorance fallacy commonly occurs in conjunction with the burden of proof: the individual appealing to ignorance incorrectly expects that their opponent must justify the opposing assertion. In both propaganda methods, Trump was able to take the chaos surrounding Covid from an environment to one of a political nature.

Covid & Social Media

The growth of social media on an international scale can be a beautiful thing. It is a medium that grants access to information that less developed regions would not have otherwise. There is a greater appreciation for this concept in other areas globally. The U.S. population, however, is spoiled and boasts a sense of entitlement. We deserve this asset. Usually, those with access to more of anything have the most challenging time seeing its value. The rich kids in school that have no value or regard for money are a great example. Social media is the same. We have it and thus lose sight of the validity of the information. This is where disinformation and misinformation come into play. We see an erroneous piece of information and continue in the spread of its falsities. Concerning health communication, we spread the word of mouth information on social media as if it were the gospel. There is genuine danger in the world of social media. The information that we shared here could have been disseminated globally, and the pandemic would probably still be a more prominent environmental issue. Herein lies the difference in domestic and global appeal. If we see it on social media, it must be accurate; however, globally, social media news is rightfully met with a degree of skepticism. This is especially true when western news is spread.

Who's Responsible

For whatever reason, we, the people, have a history of not doing our due diligence concerning fact-checking information. There is room for improvement. Specific social media platforms have systems dedicated to filtering news and directing you to credible sources; however, some choose to run with the more salacious option. People can be kept safe, informed, and connected thanks to technological improvements and social media. On the other hand, the same instruments enable and intensify the current infodemic, which continues to erode global response and risk pandemic-control measures.

The WHO

An international survey was done to understand better how young adults interact with technology during this global communication crisis, with roughly 23,500 respondents aged 18-40 years old from 24 nations across five continents. The World Health Organization (WHO), Wunderman Thompson, the University of Melbourne, and Pollfish collaborated on this research. The results provide critical insights into where Gen Z and Millennials seek COVID-19 information, who they trust as reliable sources, their awareness and actions around false news, and their worries, based on data collected from late October 2020 to early January 2021. When asked what COVID-19 information (if any) they would likely publish on social media, 43.9 percent of both male and female respondents said they would probably share "scientific" stuff. This discovery appears to go against the usual trend on social media, which shows that the most popular posts are funny, entertaining, and emotive. More than half of the Gen Z and Millennials polled (59.1%) are "extremely aware" of "false news" around COVID-19 and can recognize it frequently. However, it is difficult to persuade people to resist it actively, rather than letting it slip, with many (35.1 percent) simply ignoring it. The World Health Organization encourages young people to be aware of COVID-19, to navigate their digital world securely, and to make decisions that will preserve not just their health but also the health of their families and communities.

Like with anything, we have to be held accountable for validating the information that we take in. We cannot be responsible for fake news, but we can ensure that it stops with us.